1926–27 Detroit Cougars season

The 1926–27 Detroit Cougars season was the first season of National Hockey League (NHL) hockey in Detroit, Michigan. The Detroit Cougars scored 28 points, finished at the bottom of the American Division as well as the league and failed to make the playoffs in their inaugural year.

Founding

On May 15, 1926, the Townsend syndicate of investors was granted a conditional expansion NHL franchise, to begin play in the upcoming season if their arena was ready. For players, the syndicate decided to purchase one of the most successful teams from the bankrupt Western Canada Hockey League, the Victoria Cougars, who had won the Stanley Cup in 1925. On September 25, 1926 the NHL made the franchise purchase permanent, although the arena was not ready.The expansion club kept the Cougars name. The club played in Windsor for the entire season.

Regular season

Olympia Stadium wasn't finished being built in time for the 1926–27 season, so the Cougars began play in Border Cities Arena right across the Detroit River in Windsor, Ontario. The team struggled as the players adjusted to the style of play in the NHL and the team finished with only twelve wins on the season and over 80,000 USD in debt.^[1]^[2]^[3] The team's total of 28 points is the lowest total points for a season in the Detroit Red Wings' franchise history.

The team's first game, a "home game" in Windsor, was played on November 18 before a sell-out crowd of 6,000. Starting goaltender Hap Holmes took ill two hours before game time and substitute Herb Stuart gave up two goals in the first three minutes before shutting down the Boston Bruins for the rest of the game. However, Detroit could not score on Doc Stewart in the Boston net and lost 2–0.^[4] The team's first win would come in the team's third game against expansion cousins Chicago Black Hawks, winning 1–0 in Chicago.

On January 1, 1927, the Cougars suspended Russell Oatman and Hobie Kitchen for "breaking training." The Cougars then shook up their line-up that week by selling Oatman to the Maroons and trading Frank Fredrickson and Harry Meeking to the Bruins for Duke Keats and Archie Briden.^[5]

After 33 games, the Cougars replaced Duncan as coach with Keats. Duncan has a record of 10–21–2. Keats record was 2–7–2.^[6]

Final standings

American Division
	GP	W	L	T	GF	GA	PTS
New York Rangers	44	25	13	6	95	72	56
Boston Bruins	44	21	20	3	97	89	45
Chicago Black Hawks	44	19	22	3	115	116	41
Pittsburgh Pirates	44	15	26	3	79	108	33
Detroit Cougars	44	12	28	4	76	105	28

^[7]

Note: GP = Games Played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, Pts = Points, GF = Goals For, GA = Goals Against
Teams that qualified for the playoffs are highlighted in bold. For complete final standings, see 1926–27 NHL season

Schedule and results

November

Record: 3–2–0; Home: 1–1–0; Road: 2–1–0

#	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	OT	Record	Pts
1	November 18	Boston	2–0	Detroit		0–1–0	0
2	November 20	Detroit	1–4	Pittsburgh		0–2–0	0
3	November 24	Detroit	1–0	Chicago		1–2–0	2
4	November 27	NY Americans	2–4	Detroit		2–2–0	4
5	November 30	Detroit	4–0	Mtl. Maroons		3–2–0	6

December

Record: 2–6–1; Home: 1–4–0; Road: 1–2–1

#	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	OT	Record	Pts
6	December 4	NY Rangers	0–1	Detroit		4–2–0	8
7	December 9	Ottawa	3–1	Detroit		4–3–0	8
8	December 11	NY Americans	4–2	Detroit		4–4–0	8
9	December 14	Detroit	2–7	Boston		4–5–0	8
10	December 16	Detroit	5–0	Ottawa		5–5–0	10
11	December 19	Detroit	1–1	NY Rangers	OT	5–5–1	11
12	December 23	Mtl. Canadiens	3–2	Detroit		5–6–1	11
13	December 25	Detroit	0–2	Chicago		5–7–1	11
14	December 30	Mtl. Maroons	2–0	Detroit		5–8–1	11

January

Record: 3–8–1; Home: 1–2–0; Road: 2–6–1

#	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	OT	Record	Pts
15	January 1	Pittsburgh	3–2	Detroit		5–9–1	11
16	January 4	Toronto	2–1	Detroit		5–10–1	11
17	January 6	Detroit	3–1	Pittsburgh		6–10–1	13
18	January 9	Detroit	1–4	NY Rangers		6–11–1	13
19	January 11	Detroit	1–0	NY Americans	OT	7–11–1	15
20	January 13	Boston	2–3	Detroit		8–11–1	17
21	January 15	Detroit	1–1	Toronto	OT	8–11–2	18
22	January 18	Detroit	3–5	Mtl. Canadiens		8–12–2	18
23	January 22	Detroit	0–1	Pittsburgh		8–13–2	18
24	January 25	Detroit	1–2	Mtl. Maroons		8–14–2	18
25	January 27	Detroit	1–3	Ottawa		8–15–2	18
26	January 29	Detroit	0–2	NY Rangers		8–16–2	18

February

Record: 2–6–0; Home: 2–4–0; Road: 0–2–0

#	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	OT	Record	Pts
27	February 1	Chicago	3–4	Detroit	OT	9–16–2	20
28	February 8	Detroit	0–2	Boston		9–17–2	20
29	February 12	Mtl. Canadiens	4–1	Detroit		9–18–2	20
30	February 15	Toronto	1–5	Detroit		10–18–2	22
31	February 17	Ottawa	2–1	Detroit		10–19–2	22
32	February 19	Chicago	4–1	Detroit		10–20–2	22
33	February 22	Detroit	2–3	Boston		10–21–2	22
34	February 24	Mtl. Maroons	2–0	Detroit		10–22–2	22

March

Record: 2–6–2; Home: 1–4–1; Road: 1–2–1

#	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	OT	Record	Pts
35	March 1	Detroit	0–3	Mtl. Canadiens		10–23–2	22
36	March 5	Detroit	2–4	Toronto		10–24–2	22
37	March 8	Chicago	4–1	Detroit		10–25–2	22
38	March 10	Pittsburgh	1–7	Detroit		11–25–2	24
39	March 13	NY Rangers	2–2	Detroit	OT	11–25–3	25
40	March 15	Detroit	1–0	NY Americans		12–25–3	27
41	March 17	NY Rangers	2–0	Detroit		12–26–3	27
42	March 19	Boston	3–1	Detroit		12–27–3	27
43	March 22	Detroit	3–3	Chicago	OT	12–27–4	28
44	March 26	Pittsburgh	6–4	Detroit	OT	12–28–4	28

Green background indicates win.
Red background indicates regulation loss.
Yellow background indicates tie.

Playoffs

The Detroit Cougars failed to make the playoffs.

Player statistics

Scoring leaders

Note: GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; +/- = Plus/minus; PIM = Penalty minutes

		Regular season					Playoffs
Player	Pos	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
John Sheppard	F	43	13	8	21	60	–	–	–	–	–
Gordon "Duke" Keats*	C	25	11	8	19	42	–	–	–	–	–
Frank Foyston	C	41	10	5	15	16	–	–	–	–	–
Clem Loughlin	D	34	7	3	10	40	–	--	–	–	–
Fred Gordon	RW	36	5	5	10	28	–	–	–	–	–
Frank Fredrickson*	C	16	4	6	10	12	–	–	–	–	–
Archie Briden*	LW	32	5	2	7	36	–	–	–	–	–
Jack Walker	F	37	3	4	7	6	–	–	–	–	–
Pete Bellefeuille*	RW	18	6	0	6	14	–	–	–	–	–
Jack Arbour	D	37	4	1	5	46	–	–	–	–	–
Art Duncan	D	34	3	2	5	26	–	–	–	–	–
Russell Oatman*	LW	14	3	0	3	12	–	–	–	–	–
Harold "Slim" Halderson*	D	18	2	0	2	29	–	–	–	–	–
Chapman "Hobie" Kitchen	F	17	0	2	2	42	–	–	–	–	–
James Riley*	D	2	0	0	0	0	–	–	–	–	–
Harold "Gizzy" Hart*	LW	6	0	0	0	0	–	–	–	–	–
Harry Meeking*	D	6	0	0	0	4	–	–	–	–	–

*Stats reflect games played with Detroit only.

Goaltending

Note: GP = Games played; TOI = Time on ice (minutes); W = Wins; L = Losses; OTL = Overtime losses; GA = Goals against; SO = Shutouts; SV% = Save percentage; GAA = Goals against average

	Regular season								Playoffs
Player	GP	TOI	W	L	T	GA	SO	GAA	GP	TOI	W	L	GA	SO	GAA
Hap Holmes	41	2685	11	26	4	100	6	2.23	–	–	–	–	–	–	–
Herb Stuart	3	180	1	2	0	5	0	1.67	–	–	–	–	–	–	–

Transactions

The Cougars were involved in the following transactions during the 1926–27 season.

Trades

October 18, 1926	To Detroit Cougars Art Duncan	To Chicago Black Hawks Gord Fraser Art Gagne
October 27, 1926	To Detroit Cougars Fred Gordon	To Saskatoon Crescents (WHL) Cash
December 12, 1926	To Detroit Cougars Cash	To Montreal Canadiens Harold "Gizzy" Hart
January 6, 1927	To Detroit Cougars Cash	To Montreal Maroons Russell Oatman
January 7, 1927	To Detroit Cougars Archie Briden Gordon "Duke" Keats	To Boston Bruins Frank Fredrickson Harry Meeking
January 7, 1927	To Detroit Cougars Pete Bellefeuille	To Toronto St. Pats Harold "Slim" Halderson

Roster

1926–27 Detroit Red Wings Roster

Goaltenders:

1 – Holmes • 14 – Stuart

Defensemen

2 – Loughlin • 3 – Halderson • 4 – Meeking • 8 – Duncan • 11 – Riley • 15 – Arbour •

Forwards

3 – Bellefeuille • 4 – Briden • 5 – Fredrickson • 5 – Keats • 6 – Walker • 7 – Oatman • 9 – Sheppard • 10 – Foyston • 11 – Kitchen • 12 – Gordon • 13 – Hart •

General Manager: Art Duncan • Coach: Art Duncan(Nov–Feb), Duke Keats(Feb–Mar)

References

Hahn, John; Beam, Todd, ed. (2008). Detroit Red Wings 2008–09 Media Guide. Detroit Reed Wings.

Notes

↑ "Red Wings History". DetroitHockey.com. Archived from the original on 16 October 2007. Retrieved 2007-10-01.
↑ "Detroit Red Wings Historical Moments". SportsEcyclopedia.com. Archived from the original on 13 October 2007. Retrieved 2007-10-01.
↑ "Detroit Red Wings Written History". Detroit Red Wings.com. Archived from the original on 12 October 2007. Retrieved 2007-10-01.
↑ "Early Attack Won For Boston 2 To 0". Montreal Gazette. November 19, 1926. p. 18.
↑ "Trade Is Announced". Montreal Gazette. January 7, 1927. p. 15.
↑ Hahn, Beam(2008), p.212
↑ Standings: NHL Public Relations Department (2008). Dave McCarthy; et al., eds. THE NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE Official Guide & Record Book/2009. National Hockey League. p. 146. ISBN 978-1-894801-14-0.

External links

Player stats: Detroit Red Wings player stats on hockeydb.com
Game log: Detroit Red Wings game log on detroithockey.net
Team standings: NHL standings on hockeydb.com

Detroit Red Wings

Founded in 1926 Based in Detroit, Michigan

Franchise	Team General Managers Coaches Players Captains Draft picks Seasons Current season

History	History Original Six Records Award Winners

Personnel	Owner Ilitch Holdings (Mike Ilitch, chairman) General manager Ken Holland Head coach Jeff Blashill Team captain Henrik Zetterberg Current roster

Arenas	Windsor Arena Olympia Stadium Joe Louis Arena Detroit Events Center

Rivalries	Chicago Blackhawks

Culture and lore	Victoria Cougars 2009 NHL Winter Classic 2014 NHL Winter Classic Al the Octopus Grind Line Hockeytown Legend of the Octopus Production Line Red Wings–Avalanche brawl Hakan Andersson "Stanley's Cup" (South Park) Russian Five Karen Newman Budd Lynch London Lions 1938 European tour 1954 prison game

Stanley Cup championships	1936 1937 1943 1950 1952 1954 1955 1997 1998 2002 2008

Retired numbers	1 5 7 9 10 12 19

General managers	Duncan Adams Abel Harkness Delvecchio Lindsay Skinner Devellano Murray Devellano and Bowman Holland

Head coaches	Duncan Keats Adams Ivan Skinner Abel Gadsby Harkness Barkley J. Wilson Garvin Delvecchio L. Wilson Kromm Lindsay Maxner Dea Polano Neale Park Demers Murray Bowman Lewis Babcock Blashill

Affiliates	AHL Grand Rapids Griffins ECHL Toledo Walleye

Media	TV Fox Sports Detroit Ken Daniels Mickey Redmond Radio WXYT-FM WXYT-AM Ken Kal Paul Woods

Detroit Red Wings seasons

1920s	1926–27 1927–28 1928–29 1929–30

1930s	1930–31 1931–32 1932–33 1933–34 1934–35 1935–36 1936–37 1937–38 1938–39 1939–40

1940s	1940–41 1941–42 1942–43 1943–44 1944–45 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50

1950s	1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60

1960s	1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70

1970s	1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80

1980s	1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90

1990s	1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–00

2000s	2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10

2010s	2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15

Highlighted seasons indicate Stanley Cup championship

1926–27 NHL season

Canadian Division	Mtl Canadiens Mtl Maroons NY Americans Ottawa Toronto

American Division	Boston Chicago Detroit NY Rangers Pittsburgh

See also	The S Line Stanley Cup Playoffs Stanley Cup Finals

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